The 10 Biggest Mistakes in Crisis Communications By Jonathan Bernstein All organizations are vulnerable to crises. Disasters, lawsuits, accusations of impropriety, sudden changes in ownership or management, and other volatile situations will happen. The threat of serious damage to people, …
Spot a crisis early to minimize damage How do you spot a crisis? Clients are frequently surprised when they bring us in because of what they’ve deemed a “potential problem” and we inform them they’re heading straight for a full-blown …
I haven’t learned to do anything really well without training and lots of practice. I suspect this is true for you in your personal and professional lives. We all have areas in which we’re naturally more skilled, of course, but …
It’s a common occurrence for a crisis management pro – you’re brought into a case, start asking questions, and immediately spot red flags so blatant it seems impossible they were missed. Yet, more often than not, there’s no willful ignorance …
Stay away from bad logic if you want to avoid inviting criticism Logical fallacy is a term you hear thrown about a lot, especially if you keep track of politics. Put simply, logical fallacies are errors in reasoning. Though they …
A discussion of some tough-to-swallow disaster preparedness truths, by Jonathan Bernstein If you’ve been denial about disaster preparedness, this may be a good time for you to avert your eyes, because you’re not going to like what I have to say. …
Why you have to consider the negative when making ad decisions How did an Australian clothing company wind up sending thousands of customers a marketing email that threatened to release compromising photos of them “everywhere”? While the idea is shocking, …
Failure to avoid predictable problems results in backlash Before it became the in-store restaurant for a new Whole Foods store in Long Beach, CA Yellow Fever was operating in two different SoCal locations. Co-founded by a Korean-American chef, it was …
The Starbucks incident: a crisis management case study By Rick Kelly Given the heightened sensitivity to racial bias issues these days, is it possible for even a socially responsible organization to manage its way through a racially charged crisis with …
[Editor’s note: In today’s post Bernstein Crisis Management president Jonathan Bernstein takes a step aside from his expertise as a crisis management pro to speak from his deep base of experience both as a business owner himself and as a …
Over decades of dealing with the media in high-pressure situations we’ve come to realize that the rules many people assume reporters must follow simply don’t exist. In fact, what we’ve seen again and again is that reporters simply don’t follow …
Be prepared, work hard, and hope for a little luck. Recognize that the harder you work and the better prepared you are, the more luck you might have. — Ed Bradley Fast responses happen because you were ready. Fast recoveries happen …
It’s practically become a spectator sport to watch for marketing mistakes after any calendar event, and April Fools 2018 did not disappoint. There were numerous examples to choose from, like the French mayor who thought it would be a great …
[Editor’s note: Sensitive information is sent via email every single day, and making a mistake can create serious issues. This guest post looks at the most common risks and shares recommendations on how you might react if and when an …
Why every organization is vulnerable to #MeToo allegations When humans are oppressed and repressed long enough and finally find a channel for venting their feelings, for finding justice, we sometimes overreact. Riots occur, with innocent individual and businesses damaged (or …
